Hello, I was diagnosed in August 2021 with a stage 1a melanoma. I was offered the WLE and at my follow up appointment I was told I was pt1b. I was not offered a SLNB at the time as apparently they aren’t routinely offered below 1mm.
As this month is skin cancer awareness month I have found myself reading things that I really did not want to see, so obviously the rational thing to do was consult google and I have now got anxiety through the roof. I have now found myself wondering if I should pay to have a private SLNB or whether I should put my big girl pants on, calm down and stop googling or whether it would be worth looking in to it.
My mind always goes to the worst place and I can’t help feeling I should have pushed for it at the time but because I was told it wasn’t routine I didn’t think it was that important.
Hi Pickle87
I know what you mean about reading things that you wished you hadn't when the cancer you've been diagnosed with is highlighted by a campaign.
When I was diagnosed 7 years ago with melanoma I was pT2a and my melanoma was 1.45mm thick so I was offered a SLNB. At the time I was told that if I wanted a SLNB I had to have it done at the same time as the WLE and it couldn't be done later. The rationale behind this was that they had to inject the radioactive dye as close to the site of the excised melanoma as possible and that once the WLE was done this site would no longer be there.
I think the best thing to do would be to speak to your SCNS to ask if you wanted to have the SLNB done privately, would this be possible bearing in mind you've already had the WLE.
It would be great if you could come back and let us know what your SCNS says, if you speak to her.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
